Writing in the
Management Field
Joseph DeSio
Rhet: 1030:0055
Many, if asked,
can think of the most stressful writing project he or she has done. Perhaps a ten page creative writing
assignment, or a three page college admissions essay that required an in depth
evaluation of skills. Imagine writing an
in depth business report outlining your personal vision for the company while
under consideration for the position of Chief Executive Officer. This is the reality for those at the height
of the management career. When composing
a piece of writing such as that the author must be armed with not only the
knowledge of proper grammar, usage, mechanics, but also a knowledge and
understanding of how business works and how best to successfully convey that
knowledge through writing. Business
writing is a vital part of any management career and a dynamic style of writing
that depends on several different variables and can vary extremely depending on
the subject and the audience. Through an
interview with a former CEO and the use of several sources I have obtained a
better understanding of the inner workings of writing in management
professions.
When writing in
the management profession it is necessary to keep the audience in mind and
think what it would be like to be reading the piece of writing being composed. My
idea of good business writing prior to doing my research was proper grammar and
linguistics. Without proper grammar a
business report will lose much of its effectiveness because the audience will
lose credibility with the author. I also
thought effective business writing was efficiently conveying information that
the audience is able to easily take in. In
an interview with a former CEO (which story at the beginning was his reality) one
of the most surprising answers I received was after I asked the question, “Over
your career in what ways has your writing improved the most?” The answer,“later in my career I tried to incorporate more ‘story
telling’ or anecdotal information that supported my case but did so in a more
reader friendly manner.” The interviewee went on to say that in the beginning
of his career he was more likely to just focus on the information being
conveyed and not think about the article from the audience’s point of view. Yet, the more as his career progressed and
until he did more business reading himself he did not turn to a more narrative
way of writing. The more interested in
the writing the audience is the more likely they are to read the report closer,
and to retain more information conveyed in the report. In the modern business
age it is vital that the audience is able to retain the information given to
them in a report, because of changing technologies the speed and volume of
information has greatly increased in the business world.
Changing
technologies have greatly changed business writing as it pertains to management
professions. In recent years the frequency and speed at which companies
communicate has accelerated due to ever improving technologies. What was once
done by pen, paper and the post office then could be done by the fax machine
and today can be done instantaneously by email.
In a study done by The Journal of Business & Industrial
Marketing examined companies in several countries across the world and studied
the technologies used to communicate as well as the frequency at which they
communicated. The study showed that
companies with more advanced technologies had no greater communication and
productivity then those companies just using phone and email to communicate. Face-to-face
communication done over the internet and “meetings” in which people around the
world can meet as if they are all in the same room showed no better results in
productivity. “We also found that increased frequency of phone and
e-mail communication among partners in a dyad tends to improve the performance
of the relationship, while the use of the internet does not improve
performance.” This study shows a clear importance on
business writing still in the modern world. Although it is hard today to guess
how technology will change in the future and how those technologies will effect
business. It appears that written information will continue to be a part of how
information is conveyed in the business world for far into the future. It is
necessary today to be able to receive and send out business writing as soon as
possible, especially when at a high level in the management field.
A career in
management requires a large amount of business reading daily. A managerial profession requires that you
intake and retain large amounts of information in a short period of time. There
are many aspects of the company that must be made note of internally and also a
large amount of reading that must be done dealing outside of the company.
Depending on the company a manager must be aware of changing conditions of the
market as well as changing regulations that have effects on the company. In a study done by Health Services and
Delivery Research a number of CEO’s were “shadowed,” daily activities were
monitored, for a four to six week period.
In a passage from this article gave an example of the sheer, broad
amount of research required for a managerial position. From the article, “the
number of documents gathered for each site varied greatly, from thousands of
pages to approximately 100. Such internal documents were supplemented by
externally available information. This included, for instance, annual trust
reports, news articles and regulator documents (2014.)” This study shows how
busy a CEO will be on a day to day basis just with reading and retaining
information. Also a good example why note taking and planning skills are
essential for a managerial position. In
the interview I conducted the interviewee tied reading in business closely to
writing in business citing reading as the number one way his writing improved.
Being a manager
requires a high amount of skill in a great number of genres of writing in
addition to the amount of information they must take in on a daily basis. In an
article by Demand Media a number of a CEO’s duties were outlined. The list included writing jobs such as;
writing procedures and policies, detailed written reports for those in the
board of directors and other coworkers, and future planning for the
company. The article goes on to include
writing press reports and dealing with public relations (2012.) This study is a
good example of the sheer number of genres that a CEO or manager will have to
be literate in as part of their profession.
It is a vital part for any manager to be able to convey information
affectively with both those inside and outside of the corporation. It is also
vital to write well, because as manager at a company the author is not only
representing himself but the entirety of the company. The importance of the writing and the
frequency at which a manager must write make writing one of the most important
skills to a manager with any profession.
All of this
shows that this is why writing paired with a deep understanding of the ever
changing business world are necessary skill in a manger profession. Perhaps,
the most difficult part of writing as a manager is the wide variety of writing
that must be done for a wide variety of audiences. Throughout the research process and through
my interview and sources my idea of business writing as it pertains to
professions in management has changed greatly.
What I thought before to just be analysis and summary of a never-ending
amount of data and spreadsheets is instead a dynamic form of writing intended
for several audiences. Because of the changing genres and changing conditions
the writings for a manager will never be the same. Yet, the same challenges remain; to present
information in a clear way that is easily able to be consumed and retained by
the intended audience.
References
Chelariu, C., & Osmonbekov, T. (2014). Communication technology
in international business-to-business
relationships. Jnl of Bus & Indus Marketing Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing,
24-33.
Joyner, J. (2012, August 23). CEO Job Duties. Retrieved September
15, 2015.
Nicolini, D., Powell, J.,
& Korica, M. (2014). Keeping knowledgeable: How NHS chief executive officers mobilise knowledge and information in
their daily work. Health
Services and Delivery Research, 1-96.